The sound of gentle tapping filled a jewelry workshop in southern China as a craftsman hammered pine-leaf patterns onto a soft slab of gold in the style of old ink paintings.
Elaborate traditional pieces created by master goldsmiths have always been popular in China, bought as gifts for special occasions such as the Lunar New Year or simply as investments.
But jewelers are now having to consider a new and fast-growing consumer base — younger people, who are increasingly keen to buy gold, seeing it as a safe investment in uncertain economic times.
Photo: AFP
Key to gold’s popularity is China’s lackluster post-COVID-19 recovery, which is hitting young people especially hard as unemployment among young people soars and traditional investment options such as property suffer, analysts say.
“In the past, only the older generation would buy gold jewelry,” Chow Tai Fook Jewellery (周大福珠寶) master craftsman Tan Ruikun told reporters on a recent visit to the workshop in Guangdong Province.
“Young people are different now, they will also buy it because of its ability to retain value,” he said.
Sitting in cubicles and frowning with concentration, his colleagues twisted loops of gleaming metal into intricate patterns and peered through microscopes to add sparkling gems to gold pendants — the latter a style developed after feedback from younger customers.
“If younger elements are added in the design, it will appeal to young people even more,” Tan said.
In a bustling Shanghai jewelry market, 30-year-old freelancer Zhang Jie said that “it’s hard for young people to save money.”
Buying gold means “the money is still with you in a different way,” she said.
Millennials and Gen Z are “becoming a huge driving force” in the rising popularity of gold, Metals Focus founding partner Nikos Kavalis said. “The last few years have seen attitudes change dramatically.”
That reflects Chow Tai Fook’s recent consumer research, which suggested Gen Z was more attracted to buying gold than any other age group under the age of 40.
“Pure gold jewelry continues to serve as a safe haven for Chinese consumers amid recent economic conditions,” the report said.
Gold jewelry was among the best-performing consumer goods in China last year, as the post-pandemic recovery lost its shine in the face of flagging domestic consumption and declining business confidence. A long-running property sector crisis and more recent stock market rout have further dented investors’ options.
The jewelry market in central Shanghai was buzzing with customers before the Lunar New Year holiday.
Global gold prices hit a record high in December last year, so “people may see it as a more stable value of assets”, Zhang said.
Feng Ning, a 24-year-old medical industry worker, had similar motivations.
“When I started earning my own money... I bought other luxury products, but they would depreciate a lot when you want to exchange them for cash,” she said. “My friends [and I] have switched to choosing gold.”
One small shop in the labyrinthine market was notably busier than others, with almost every inch of its counters crowded.
The reason, said another store owner, was that it was famous on the social media platform Xiaohongshu — attracting younger customers.
Chow Tai Fook has also leveraged social media to adapt to this new interest, managing director Kent Wong said.
The 95-year-old company is keen to position itself as more than just a brand for the old, wealthy and traditional.
Typical jewelry pieces include enormous dangling necklaces made of nine descending pigs, a symbol of fertility given as part of wedding customs in southern China.
However, gold consumption in China last year was driven by “products lighter than 10 grams, or cheaper than 2,000 yuan” (US$281), the World Gold Council said, reflecting the smaller budgets of millennial and Gen Z customers.
Xiaohongshu users share videos of glass bottles full of gold beans or other charms, showcasing their savings as they add to their treasure pile.
Legacy jewelers have cabinets full of such golden amulets, but they also design bigger pieces aimed at young consumers.
A phenomenon noted by both the council and Wong was “guochao” — translated as “national wave” or “China chic” — the rise of brands that celebrate Chinese cultural identity.
“Young people are becoming more and more confident about Chinese culture,” Wong said.
The company recently ran a popular series that reimagined Tang dynasty museum pieces as modern jewelry.
“This is giving new life through our current aesthetics,” Wong said. “I think this is how to pass on our traditional things.”
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in